


Untamed

by bridgebeingbridge



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Blood, G/T, GT, Giant!Handsome Jack, Giant/Tiny, Giants, Gore, Griffin!Handsome Jack, Griffin!Jack, Griffon!Handsome Jack, Griffon!Jack, Gryphon!Handsome Jack, Gryphon!Jack, Handsome Jack x Rhys, M/M, Macro/Micro, Macrophilia, Microphilia, Size Difference, Violence, circus AU, giant, giant!Jack, m/m - Freeform, micro/macro, rhack - Freeform, sfw, tiny/giant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-12 16:05:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7940710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bridgebeingbridge/pseuds/bridgebeingbridge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a universe where gryphon like giants inhabit the Earth along with humans, many giants are captured and sold to the circus. Handsome Jack is a well known and renowned giant. What's more, he's dangerous. Rhys is stuck with the task of training him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at http://psychosis-girl.tumblr.com/ (I post plenty of Handsome Jack!)

Giants were mysterious creatures. 

They were said to be descendants of the mighty gryphons themselves - if such creatures had ever even existed - with all of their strange features. They were indeed gryphon-like. The had long lion tails with silky tufty ends, claws, sharp yellow teeth, and most noticeable of all - wings. Big long wings that stretched to their feet with huge feathers, wings that were all kinds of colours and stretched across the skies like mighty aircraft wings. But the most impressive thing of all, most agreed, was their size. Their size varied, just like a humans. They were usually around 40 to 55 feet, towering over even most buildings. 

Their size and impressive features were why Rhys was nervous.

Hard economic times were upon him and the nation. Jobs were hard to come by. He had looked everywhere. He had applied to office jobs, assistant jobs, hell, he had even tried fast food places. All had turned him away, they weren’t looking for anyone. 

There was only one job left. To be a giant trainer for the circus. 

Contrary to popular belief, giant trainers didn’t need any qualifications. Why? Well, most of them died pretty quick, ending up inside a hungry, vengeful giant's belly within mere months - maybe even weeks. If they were really, really bad at their job, too confident or too meek or too clueless, they could die during the first week. They would get too close to a giant due to their cockiness or simply because they were ignorant that they needed to give the creatures a wide berth, that they should never break the golden rule: never let a giant get close enough to grab you. As a result they would be snatched up and bitten into like a sandwich, albeit a rather bony one. But that wasn’t the only way you could die on the job. If a trainer was too meek, if they didn’t bend the giant to their will and if they let the giant take advantage of them, if they let the giant manipulate them through fear, then they would also quickly perish. 

The bottom line was: if the job required qualifications, no one would pay to get those qualifications. Who would want to pay for schooling that would go towards living a life where they would have a job like that? It would be like paying for suicide. They died so fast that if the job required schooling they would quickly run out, they were always in demand as it was. Giants were difficult to train simply because they were so damn powerful and big. What’s more, they were known for being violent and angry, they were ill tempered beasts. They would wait for the slightest slip up, the tiniest human error, and then they would strike, killing their victim and getting their revenge for being made into something lower than even a beast of burden - being made into entertainment. Giants did not forget and they did not forgive. 

Rhys knew all of this all too well, because he had experience working for circuses himself. When he was much younger and down on his luck yet again, in need of a quick job, he had applied and trained a giant called Vasquez - the pair had despised each other. The monster had raven black wings and fierce yellow eyes, although he didn’t look too handsome despite those pretty features, because he was balding rather badly. Still, he had prided himself on appearances immensely, and had always preened his wings furiously, it was all Rhys ever saw him do. He would nibble on them and spit out loose ones all over his pen. That was what said giant had been doing right before he bit Rhys’ arm off. The trainer had come in during the early morning and found the giant grooming himself. When he had demanded that Vasquez pay attention to him so they could start training he was ignored. So he lunged forwards with the incredibly long whips they used, trying to strike Hugo across the face to make him pay attention. However, he had gotten just a little too close, a tad bit too near to the giant, he had been too enthusiastic in his attempt to punish Vasquez and stepped forward too much when he went to strike him. The chains Vasquez were bound by had just enough slack to allow him to lunge forwards in response, and he was able to snap his jaws and his wolf like teeth tightly closed right around Rhys’ arm. 

Rhys had screamed and screamed and screamed. His arm was torn from his body and chewed up in a disgustingly gruesome fashion by Vasquez, drool pooling in the beast’s mouth as he reduced carefully arranged bone, muscle and skin to a bloody paste and then swallowed it down, licking his lips and staring at Rhys with pure sick glee and spiteful hatred, his amber eyes gleaming. Luckily Rhys’ first reaction when his arm had been bitten off, other than to scream, was to back up to the other side of the ring, getting as far away as possible - and this action saved his life. If he had stayed in reach, he could have very well died, Vasquez could have murdered him. He hyperventilated and exited the ring, clutching at where the first part of his arm should have been, blood spilling over his fingers. He was bleeding an extraordinary amount and once the adrenaline started wearing off he was in immense pain. 

Luckily, the trainer had been able to quickly get help and go to hospital. He was given a blood transfusion and his wound was treated. 

But his arm was gone forever.

He had quickly chosen to get a prosthetic limb as living without one arm had proven to be hellish for him, he had been clumsy and his actions had often been inefficient. Having a cybernetic arm wasn’t so bad. Thankfully he could fortunately actually afford it due to the fact he knew the doctor. It was weird to have such a hard, cold metal limb that he couldn't feel with, and it took time to get used to, but it wasn’t all bad. It was stronger than his old arm had been, he was able to carry more with it. And if he ever got mugged, it would be most useful to defend himself, he could deliver a really lethal punch. 

Time passed. He left the circus. He had left as soon as his arm was ripped off, he couldn’t face the giants anymore. Not after that. He had brushed with death and it wasn’t for him. He got a job at a firm and it paid well enough. He was surviving, that was the main thing. 

But now he was back. The firm had sank and he had lost his steady job. There were no other jobs for him to turn to but this. 

“At least it pays well.” Rhys muttered as he came upon the circus. 

He took a deep breath and headed past several small striped purple and yellow tents to go and meet and talk with the manager’s son. He hadn’t needed to apply, they already knew who he was, and they gladly welcomed him back - he hadn’t actually been a bad trainer. A bit skittish and nervous at first, but he wasn’t afraid to give some sass back to giants that cheeked him. He had slowly gotten bolder and bolder, more willing to punish giants, more ruthless. However, that had been a long time ago. He would most likely be back to square one in terms of nerves - maybe he would be even worse than the first time he started due to the loss of one of his limbs. 

He met August, the manager’s son, and shook his hand, making idle chatter with him as it had been a long time since he had seen him and it was the polite, expected thing to do. At first they complained about how the economy was in the gutter and talked about the weather, but eventually the topic shifted to talk of giants as they walked through the circus. They headed past the lions and tigers and the chained up elephants - merely side acts, they were never the main attraction. The real meat in the meal all the paying guests received was the giants. 

“Is… uh, Vasquez is still owned and trained by this circus right? Will I be training him?” Rhys asked curiously. He was praying they had a different giant for him to train instead, or that Vasquez had been sold on. He knew Hugo. The beastly creature would mock him for having left after the incident and taunt him over his missing arm. He never wanted to see him again, let alone go back to training him. 

“You mean old Hugo? Nah, he’s been gone a long time. He died. We tried to keep him penned with another giant. But he annoyed the other giant too much, so they ripped his throat out. They’re a real keeper.” August laughed at the end. 

Rhys’ eyes widened and he held back a gasp. One of their giants… killed another? Giants got on with each other about as well as humans got on with each other - which meant they didn’t go around killing and murdering each other usually. Whoever this new giant was, they would most likely be incredibly ill tempered and violent. Rhys paled at the thought that he would probably get stuck training them. 

“Who was the giant that did it?” Rhys asked. 

August stopped walking and turned around. Rhys followed suit and stood with his feet squared. August folded his arms and eyed Rhys. 

“The giant that did it is the giant you’re going to be training. Handsome Jack.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright well! Thank-you for reading so far I really appreciate it! I hope my writing isn't too terrible for you! Luckily I haven't had the chance to butcher any characters too much yet.
> 
> Nothing rhackish is happening yet, but don't worry, it will in the coming chapters, stay tuned!
> 
> Also I'm a slut for comments so if you have any criticisms or liked it please comment! <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you would like to have an image of what Jack looks like in this au, this is what he looks like (But without the mask and clothes): http://orig00.deviantart.net/661d/f/2016/252/9/4/lara_commison1_by_larabeinglara-dah2xni.jpg
> 
> It was drawn by the fabulous dexters-comic-laboratory on tumblr and if you like Don't Starve I suggest you follow them!
> 
> Also remember to follow me (I post plenty of rhack and Handsome Jack): http://lonesomelara.tumblr.com/

Rhys knew who Handsome Jack was.

Of course he knew.

Handsome Jack was renowned all over the nation, especially in this particular region, the region the famous monster himself actually resided in. He was something of a legend. He had evaded capture since a very young age despite constantly getting close to humans. And he had killed dozens of them.

He was cunning. He always made schemes and plans to avoid getting captured. He was great at getting other giants to work for him, using a perfect blend of both charisma and charm and then blackmail and threats and violence. The way words would drip off of his tongue, others felt they just had to say yes to him, they just had to aid him in his plans. Often he made teams of giants and then mobilized them, sending them on various missions. He used these teams to rescue more giants from any place he could find. He rescued circus giants, giants that had had their wings cut off and that were used by rich people to act as guard dogs (they were starved, in order to motivate them to eat intruders), giants that were kept in research labs and tested on, any giant he could get his clawed hands on he would. Then they would often join him out of thanks for being saved - yes, he was good at getting others to join him, good indeed.

But those weren’t the only things him and his teams did. Other than liberating giants, demolishing the institutions that kept them prisoners and killing every human involved that he and his men could find with no mercy at all along with that, he also stole human technology. And that was what made him most dangerous of all. Most giants didn’t understand technology, but he did. He taught other giants how to use it and tried to arm himself with technology so he could use it against humans. He stole the very weapons humans used to control his kind and turned them against humans.

But that didn’t matter anymore, because now it appeared he had finally been caught, and had been degraded to the embarrassing position of being a circus beast. It was all over for him. His freedom was in the past.

Rhys paled at the thought he would be training such a calculating and dangerous giant, training a cold blooded killer, an utter beast. A monster.

“You mean… I… I’m going to be training Handsome Jack?” He felt a little faint.

“Yeah. You are.” August replied in a bland voice. He started walking again and went on. Rhys followed.

“We very recently just got ahold of him. And oh boy, that giant is gonna make us a fortune. Everyone from far and wide would come see the big sack a’ shit since he’s so famous.” The blond grinned.

Rhys meekly nodded, trying to process everything. This job was definitely going to kill him… how could it not? There was no way he could survive against Handsome Jack’s cunning tricks and violent ways. But it was either this or starve to death and lose his home, resorting to living on the streets. He’d prefer to die with a full belly and after having had a good night's sleep in a comfortable bed.

Eventually they both made it to the main grand tent Jack was kept in, flags on the top of it neatly waving in the wind. Messily painted signs stood outside the entrance, warning people of the danger that lay inside.

“Alright, I’ll let you take a look at him. I’m sure you know the usual rules, don’t believe a word he says, don’t get too close, yada yada. Again, he’s new to this, so don’t be afraid to introduce him to the fact he’s circus property now and that he’s gonna be performing for us. Be back here at 8 AM sharp on Monday to start the job. I’m off for a cigarette.” The manager's son walked off.

Taking a deep breath, Rhys walked inside after he watched August leave. He wasn’t sure what he expected to find. How would the famous Handsome Jack react to him? Would he try trick him or be flat out aggressive? What would Jack look like? What would he be doing before he knew Rhys was there?

Rhys’ thoughts stopped when he got inside and came upon the massive lump sticking out the of ground that was Jack. The big lug was lying down, asleep. Rhys breathed out. It was both a blessing and a curse. While he was glad because he didn’t ever want Jack’s wrath upon him, even if the giant was chained up, at the same time he wanted him awake so he could actually talk to him, get a feel for what his personality was like and learn what he was most likely to do. That way Rhys could prepare himself, he would know what to expect, to a certain degree at least, and he would be know what kind of approach he would need to take.

He watched Jack as the beast snuffled and snored slightly, lying curled up with his arms tucked under his chin and his legs curled up to his body. A sleepy frown was etched across his lips and his eyes were tightly close. The famous killer looked… well, so peaceful and gentle and… warm in his sleep. Rhys crept a little closer to his face, examining him.

He was a little blown away, if he was honest.

Sure, he was called Handsome Jack and it must have been for a reason, but Rhys simply didn’t realize he would actually quite that handsome. His face looked quite like it had been carved by angels. A perfect nose, beautiful tan skin, and a head of absolutely stunning brown hair. Not to mention, most noticeable of all, a stunning jaw line. The only thing that didn’t fit this description was the huge upside down v shaped scar that ran across his face. It was very big and very deep. Despite it, Jack was still utterly beautiful, especially and at least in Rhys’ eyes. His wings were gorgeous as well as his face, light brown like his hair and very hawk or eagle like, incredibly majestic looking. They were massive, curling around his body all the way to his feet.

Jack was big too. He was big, even for a giant. He was well built, slightly stocky with thick arms and legs. He wasn’t exactly beefy, but he wasn’t skinny either. It looked like he was pretty damn tall too. Rhys swallowed. It looked like he would be strong like an ox. Great. That was the last thing he needed.

Rhys noticed he had strangely big hands with thick fingers, and big feet and a pretty large nose. His long pointy ears were a little on the large side too, even for a giant. Giants were unlike humans in the sense they had big long ears that stuck out and twitched and drooped and perked up depending on what they were trying to listen to or were feeling. Well, regardless, Jack’s big hands and nose and everything else added character, Rhys supposed.

Suddenly the giant’s elf like ears twitched and perked up, and he started to shift. Rhys instinctively moved back a bit. Jack’s eyelids moved and he sat up with a grunt, looking around a little blearily and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Rhys wanted to gasp at the sight of his eyes. Oh god, he had thought his face had been pretty, but his eyes, his eyes, Christ his eyes. They were like perfect crystals, one the perfect shade of grassy green and the other a perfect shade of sky blue. They were captivating, the trainer wanted to stare at them forever. He had certainly never felt that before when it came to looking at a giant's eyes - or anyone else's eyes at all really. Rhys scolded himself, this was a killer giant, not some high school chick. He shouldn’t be fawning over his eyes.

Jack looked around the tent, taking in his situation. He froze when he spotted Rhys and immediately his lips curled back and he bared his frightening yellow teeth. They looked like they belonged in a lion’s mouth. He was definitely awake now, all traces of sleepiness gone from his body. He started to snarl and growl, getting low to the ground. Rhys knew what he was doing. He was preparing himself to pounce. Rhys folded his arms to try and act confident and intimidating, standing strong with his feet squared, but really he wanted to shield himself with his arms, as well as vigorously back up and run out of the tent.

Jack lunged forwards but made a choked sound when the chains caught him. They yanked his body back, and he roared slightly with frustration. He got on his knees and pulled forwards with all his weight, trying to snap them for a fair few minutes, grunting and squirming. They stayed tightly and firmly linked together. He breathed out heavily as he slouched and sat down, accepting his defeat - for now.

He took his focus away from Rhys and looked down at himself and wrinkled his nose with disgust. He was dressed in the circuses colours, bright gay purple and yellow, and he didn’t look too happy about it. Hell, he didn’t look too happy about anything. He was barefoot and he curled his toes, his claws digging into the ground. His feet, like all giants, were hairy - similar to a hobbits feet. Jack’s appeared to be even hairier than average, and the same could be said for the rest of his body hair - his arms were smothered in hairs. He was very masculine then. Rhys couldn’t help but wonder how hairy his chest was. He noticed the black collar around Jack’s neck - a shock collar. He decided it was a good precaution and wondered when he would be given the remote to control it, probably tomorrow. His thoughts were interrupted as Jack looked back up and shifted, sitting comfortably. He finally paid attention to Rhys.

“Who are you?” He barked with narrowed eyes.

Rhys inhaled through his nose.

“Heeeeyyyy, I’m Rhys.” Rhys gave an awkward smile and did quick little finger guns at Jack. “I’m going to be your trainer from now on while you’re at this circu- this establishment.” Rhys spoke with a nod. “I expect you to - well, uh, do as I say. We can get on well and if you behave you’ll even be rewarded, isn’t that great? But if you don’t obey I’ll have to use force. And I’d really rather not do that - especially not to the famous Handsome Jack.” When he finished he tried buttering up Jack a bit to see if that would help get him to comply. He tried to be as civil as possible to the giants at first, even though usually he just got angry snarls and direct opposition instead of a civil response back - although he supposed he couldn’t blame the beasts for being so angry when they were basically being kept prisoner. He didn’t exactly want to support establishments that degraded them so much, but he didn’t have much of a choice. While he wasn’t sure he really wanted giants to go free, in case they were dangerous to humans, he didn’t want to have to force them to do tricks and to beat them either.

“No. I want to speak with whoever owns this shithole. Bring them to me. Now.” Jack snapped in reply.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, and if I talked to them they wouldn’t come talk to you anyway.”

“Oh really? I have some information that might interest them. I can tell them the locations of tons of giants. They can capture them instead of me if they let me go free. It would be worth their while, over five giants for the price of one.”

Rhys was stunned. Jack was willing to sell out his own men, his own kind?

“You’d… you’d sell out your own kind?” He looked up at Jack, shocked.

Jack sighed and snorted with frustration.

“Are you going to get me the manager or not? Look pal, I’m not a monster. They don’t know how to run operations. I’m more valuable to giant kind as a whole than they are.”

Rhys shook his head.

“That wouldn’t interest Vallory. She knows how much she’ll be making off of you since you’re Handsome Jack.”

Jack’s ears visibly drooped and he sighed, his chest deflating.

“Vallory. So that’s who runs this shit show.” He mumbled.

Then he got loud again.

“Well, looks like I’m well and truly stuck here. So fine. I’ll follow your commands.” He announced, folding his arms.

Rhys was amazed.

“What? Really?” He was suspicious that this was a trick. He certainly had not been expecting Jack to say that.

“Yeah, really. I don’t need anymore scars. I don’t wanna get beat, kitten.” Jack answered. ‘There’s no point in resisting when it’s useless.”

Rhys was quiet for a moment.

“...Well, I’m glad you’ll be doing as I say.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever.” He swished his tail, the heavy thing thumping against the ground and stirring up dust. Giants often thumped and swished their tails when they were bored, irritated or angry.

“Tell me about yourself. I’d like to have an idea of who’s training me.” Jack asked.

Rhys was surprised yet again. Why would Handsome Jack have a care in the world about some human like him?

“I - you want to know about me?”

“Are you deaf? Yes. I do. That’s what I just said.” Handsome Jack grumbled, his tail swishing even more.

Rhys cleared his throat.

“Well, I’m sort of down on my luck right now.” Rhys scratched the back of his neck and smiled slightly and awkwardly. “I know a lot about coding and programming and I’m best suited to an IT or business job. However, I have experience with this kind of position. I -”

“Of course you do. That’s how you lost an arm.” Jack cut Rhys off.

“...I - uh. Yeah.” Rhys said lamely. Of course Jack figured that out. Anyone could. He composed himself a bit and then continued, clearing his throat again and swallowing. “Well, as I was saying, I have experience with training giants. So I don’t even think you can trick me or push me around, because I -”

Then next moments happened so fast Rhys couldn’t register them.

Jack whipped around, turning his back to Rhys. He lashed out with tail and smacked Rhys with it, knocking his lower legs so his feet were swept off the ground, making him land on his back. Rhys cried out a little and made an “oof” sound when he hit the floor, the shock of the fall and slight pain running through his ribs. Yeah, that definitely hurt. He started to panic and tried to look up, but before he could react any further Jack wrapped the end of his tail around one of Rhys’ long legs and dragged him over with a harsh yank.

Rhys’ heart pounded so hard he was sure he would have a heart attack when he realized what was happening. He couldn’t stop himself from squealing loudly and he twisted himself around. He clawed desperately at the ground as he was dragged, wiggling and kicking and trying to do anything he could to break Jack’s grasp.

Jack let go when Rhys was close and Rhys was confused but immediately stood up and tried to run, but he was jolted when Jack stopped him and wrapped his tail around him again, this time wrapping it around his waist. Oh. So he had just let go to get an even better grip.

Rhys found his body slowly sailing into the air as Jack lifted him up to his face. Rhys struggled so very hard, his legs moving like he was trying to pedal a bike and his hands splayed out against the skin at the end of Jack’s tail he tried to push himself up and out of his grasp. He writhed and flailed with his torso, looking down at his hips and willing them to pop out of the coil Jack’s tail had made, but of course they didn’t budge, it was all too tight. He grit his teeth with fear and stared up at Jack with wide eyes. He was greeted by eyes that stared right back in an intimidating yet clearly cruelly delighted glare. He could see every detail now, every single blend of colour that went into his irises, and even now, when he was moments away from being killed by the owner of said eyes, he couldn’t help but melt at how gorgeous they were.

“Hahahahaha! You fucking idiot!” Jack bellowed. “You seriously believed me when I said I would do as you said? Kid, you can whip me, starve me, shock me, it doesn’t matter. I will never not resist you. I will never do what you and your filthy kind try to order me to do!” He growled loudly, snarling and baring his teeth at Rhys. Rhys flinched, he was being held right up to Jack’s face, so he was right by those teeth. They were like jagged white headstones, and Rhys wanted to be as far away from them as possible.

“Bet you thought my lunging earlier was me trying to get at you, huh? Well guess again. I already knew I couldn’t reach you like that and that I couldn’t break the chains, I got used to them back when I was first penned up in here. No, I was merely giving you a false sense of security kiddo. Letting you really believe that you were a fine length away from me and that I wasn’t going to try anything else. For saying you apparently have experience with this kind of job, you forgot all about my tail, and underestimated how far I can reach. So you might have experience, but you’re certainly not good at this job, are you now?”

Rhys cursed at himself. He had indeed forgotten that giants could lunge with their tails. He really thought he had remembered everything, but it appeared years of working at an office had made him forget certain important facts.

“I guess not. But listen, Jack. I never wanted to take this job, okay?” He prayed his story might make Jack go easy on him, but from what he had heard, Jack was merciless. It was unlikely he would be spared from a gruesome and deathly fate, but he had to try.

“I only took this job because there were no others-”

Jack ignored and interrupted him.

“Oh I just love killing you humans. You’re always so cocky and smug and certain you have power over us giants until I manage to get you like this. Then you’re always terrified messes. It’s great.” He chuckled in a sickly manner. “You can’t push me around!” Jack mimicked Rhys in a high pitched voice. “Ha! Guess again. I’m gonna do much more than just push you around, bucko. I’m gonna kill you. Say bye bye to being alive.”

Rhys felt his heart drop into his stomach and his throat locked up. He could hear his heart pounding away in his head like a drum, a hot wet thumping sound that drowned out all other sounds except Jack’s loud voice. He knew he would be killed as soon as Jack grabbed him, but to actually hear it was terrifying. He started to visibly shake with fear and his vision became hyper focused on Jack, his young lungs heaving in ragged panicked breaths.

“ _No_.” He breathed. “No, no please! Please don’t! Wait! I’m begging here come on please please don’t- haaaah!” Rhys spoke in a voice that was garbled with panic, but cut himself off with a screech of fear when Jack stuffed the left half of his body into his mouth, setting his teeth along his spine and letting his right side jut out of his mouth. Then he bit down ever so slightly, getting a more secure grip and letting his teeth sink into Rhys’ flesh. Rhys wailed when he felt the teeth penetrate his skin quite deeply, not deeply enough to reach organs, but certainly deep enough to get past all layers of skin and several layers of flesh.

All Rhys could think was _oh God he was going to die he was as good as dead he was going to die at the hands of Handsome Jack_. His first day on the job and he was already going to die. He hadn’t even started training Jack yet and already he was in mortal peril!

He squirmed around slightly, but quickly stopped when that hurt him. It made the flesh in the areas Handsome Jack’s teeth were digging into tear and rip. He just lay still and whimpered involuntarily, his lip softly trembling.

Jack started to shake his head from side to side like a rabid dog, slowly shaking harder and harder and faster and faster, jolting Rhys terribly and scrambling his thoughts in the process. The taste of blood as it was slowly squeezed out of Rhys’ body and trickled down into Jack’s taste buds had triggered the giants more primal predatory urges. Rhys screamed bloody murder as this happened, squirming now despite the extra pain and tearing this brought, he was so terrified and desperate to escape he couldn’t stop himself. He was so scared of dying that he actually started to cry a bit, tears pouring down his face. This was horrible. He closed his eyes, making more tears drip down, and sobbed openly. Well. This was it.

Death.

Jack was going to savage him to death and bite down until he split him into two halves.

He thought about all the things that made him happy in an attempt to soothe his fear.

Vaughn. Computers. Multicoloured socks. Paychecks.

It was sad that he would be leaving them behind, but at least he had had them at all. He tried to mentally prepare himself for death as best he could.

But suddenly, the shaking stopped. And the teeth removed themselves from the holes they had made, blood staining them. Jack’s grip loosened and he let Rhys roll out of his mouth and drop into one of his clawed hands.

Rhys was a little stunned, but he certainly didn’t let his guard down. Jack probably had some other kind of evil method of torture in store for him. Maybe he was going to crush him to death with his hand or step on him or some other third thing.

However, that didn’t happen. Instead Jack gently put him down on the floor, glaring angrily at him. Jack almost looked - conflicted. And like he was sick at himself for what he was doing, his nose wrinkled slightly.

“Go. Go on, fuck off.”

Rhys didn’t need telling twice. He scrambled to his feet and ran out of the ring, half expecting Jack to snatch him up and reveal that it had been another trick. But as he managed to exit the tent he realized it wasn’t a trick. He stuffed his hand into his torn bloody shirt and felt at his heart with his hand, gasping as he did so.

It was still beating. He was still alive.

He was too tired to ask himself why Jack spared him and simply limped away from the circus, heading home while his wounds bled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, chapter 2. I'm butchering Handsome Jack a bit and Rhys A LOT, but oh well. Hopefully more is to come soon. It's not fluffy right now but eveeeeeeentually it will be.
> 
> And as always, please comment!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I now roleplay as giant gryphon Jack on tumblr! So if you want, follow me and interact with me!  
> http://g-iant.tumblr.com/
> 
> Chapter 4 to come very, very soon like literally probably today it's mostly done.

“Then he what!?” Vaughn exclaimed.

“I said he picked me up and bit into me.” Rhys repeated tiredly. He had decided, once he was halfway home, to go to Vaughn’s house instead. He opened up his black jacket and revealed the bloody wounds Jack had made.

“Can you help me with these bites already, Vaughn?” He couldn’t help but be a little snappish. He wasn’t exactly having a good day, after all, and his wounds really needed attention.

Vaughn nodded rapidly.

“Yeah, of course Rhys!” He said quickly, stepping aside so Rhys could go through his hallway and get into the house.

“Let's head up to the bathroom.” He shut the front door and hurried behind Rhys, ushering him up the stairs and into the tiny bathroom. The trainer knew Vaughn’s house very well, he had been there so many times (they were “bros”, after all), so he made it with no trouble.

“I’m going to go and get stuff to help us like some disinfectant and bandages. Take off your shirt while I’m gone. And your pants if he got your legs too.”

The small bearded friend of Rhys’ scurried off. Rhys turned to the mirror and untucked his tie from his shirt (he had a strange fashion sense) and then pulled off his shirt, revealing his scrawny chest. He might have been tall but he had always been scrawny, he was just built like that, but the fact that for most of his life he had worked in positions that didn’t require much physical exercise didn’t help either.

He gasped at the sight of the punctures in skin. Luckily they had mostly stopped bleeding on his journey to Vaughn’s house, but they looked pretty deep. They would probably leave scars. He groaned and ran a tired hand through his hair.

Just his luck. Absolutely great.

At least maybe potential dates may find them kinda, well, hardcore and perhaps hot? He tried to look at the positives.

He unzipped himself and pulled off his trousers too, leaving himself in his underwear and revealing a few more bite marks embedded into one of his legs, getting a slight amount of sticky blood on his fingers. He felt at them and examined them in the mirror just as Vaughn came in.

When Vaughn walked back into the room he gasped and stood still at the sight of Rhys’ wounds. He stood still for a moment, taking them in and processing them. Then he walked closer to Rhys and the toilet. Vaughn’s arms were full of things, however he managed to reach over and put the toilet lid down. Then he made Rhys sit.

“Rhys.” He shook his head. “You should go to hospital-”

“No.” Rhys cut him off. “You know I can’t afford it.”

“But Rhys, these are serious. What if they need stitches or something?”

“I said no, Vaughn.”

Vaughn sighed and nodded and got to work sorting out the wounds. He started to disinfect Rhys’ wounds and bandaged each one as neatly as one might wrap a present. He made the wrappings thick and used a whole roll of the bandages. Then he rubbed his hands together and gave Rhys once over with his eyes to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

Rhys felt at the bandages. They were really tight, but not too tight. They were snug and just right. He smiled up at Vaughn.

“Thanks buddy. I really appreciate this, I can always count on you.”

“No problem. Just - Rhys, watch your back, okay?”

“I will.” Rhys could sense that he was about to get lectured.

“I really, really don’t like this.” Vaughn’s face wore a deep frown. “I’ve never liked you getting involved with this circus giant trainer stuff. And now you’re telling me you’re going to be training Handsome Jack? Probably the most dangerous giant alive? Rhys, you - I’m scared you’ll die. Really, really scared. I don’t want you to die. You almost died today! What - how did you even get out of his jaws alive?”

“I don’t know.” Rhys was suddenly quiet all of a sudden. It had finally started to sink into his brain that Handsome Jack, the great Handsome Jack, had spared his life. Seemingly for no reason. His voice was almost silent. “He just sort of… spared me.”

“Spared you?” Vaughn squinted and was also quiet, but only for a moment. “Rhys, that can’t be right.” Vaughn shook his head. “He wouldn’t do that. What do you mean he spared you?”

“Well, he shook me about in his mouth for a good long while. Then he pulled me out of it with his claws and… set me down. He told me to fuck off.” Rhys almost laughed at the memory when he realized how it almost sounded amusing, being told to fuck off by an angry giant, when the horrific scene was actually over.

Vaughn paced a bit, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Then he finally spoke up.

“Well, Rhys, don’t - don’t get cocky. Stay as far away from him as you can and be as careful as you can. It was probably a part of some sinister plan or he did it for some other strange reason. He didn’t do it because he likes you or anything.”

“Yeah, I know that Vaughn. Of course he doesn’t like me. He’s a bloodthirsty giant. I know how dangerous his kind can be, remember my arm? I will be careful.” He gestured to his wounds.

“After this I really, really don’t want to get caught by him again.”

The pair of men talked a little longer and then Rhys decided to sleep on Vaughn's couch since he was too tired to walk all the way home.

His mind was full of thoughts as he tried to sleep. He was burning with a single question.

Why did Handsome Jack spare him? Why, why, why?

Was it a part of some kind of plan he had? But what the hell could the plan be? It made no sense. Surely there was no possible way a plan of his had sparing Rhys as one of its components. Surely a plan couldn’t benefit from it. So then, did he spare Rhys to perhaps get on Rhys’ good side? To get special treatment? That would make some sense, but even then, he wasn’t sure about it. Would the great Handsome Jack pass up the opportunity to kill a human, the kind he hated so dearly, just to simply avoid being punished quite as harshly on occasions and because he wanted to be treated slightly more tenderly? It didn’t seem like him. Not only that, but Jack would know that better treatment wasn’t guaranteed. A trainer might be angry that they were bitten into at all and wouldn’t care that they were also spared from grim death. But then, that left only one explanation. Handsome Jack spared him because he felt bad for him or he pitied him. And there was no way _that_ was the answer.

Rhys sighed and shook his head. If he kept rattling his brains for an answer like this then he would get no sleep. So he rolled over and snuggled into the sofa, closing his eyes even tighter and willing sleep to take over his body.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long! Honestly I've been so busy. 
> 
> I think Im gonna put this story on hiatus for a while, sorry. I want to write some Hugo x Jack stuff instead so if you like that stuff then stay tuned. 
> 
> Also I threw in a nod for Gorillaz fans look out for it ;)

Sure enough, Rhys showed up on Monday to begin training Handsome Jack. Everything went as expected at first, he got his coffee on the way to work and clocked in once he showed up at the circus. 

However, Rhys quickly noticed things weren’t as they should be. 

He could hear loud… wails of pain, coming from the tent that housed Jack? And the wails were loud and booming, way too loud for a human to be making them. They were clearly in Jack’s voice too. Was August or another trainer trying to break Jack in more by beating him? Sometimes disobedient giants weren’t just beaten for doing a trick wrong or refusing to do it. They were beaten and shocked to teach them their place too. And to be taught his place, Jack would need a lot of beating.

Rhys cautiously headed into the tent, unsure of what he would find. 

He found Jack on his back, writhing on the ground, his semi-unfolded wings twitching and his tail thrashing, his body stirring up dust as it wiggled around and occasional loose feathers flying everywhere. Rhys stepped as close as he dared and squinted with confusion. It appeared that Jack didn’t even notice him because he was so distracted with the pain he was feeling and with his own efforts at struggling. What was wrong? The roars and wails and squirming made it evident that Jack was in a lot of pain, but why? He noticed Jack was clawing at the shock collar around his neck, his neck bleeding slightly from when he missed the collar and accidentally scratched himself. 

Rhys looked around to see if anyone was shocking Jack. He had the remote to the shock collar, he had picked it up when he had clocked in but… maybe there was a second remote or something? And yet he found no one. No one was shocking Jack.

“Uh, Jack?” Rhys cleared his throat.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Jack got on his knees, still clawing at the collar. His eyes flickered over to Rhys and he grit his teeth. 

“Get this fucking collar off me! It won’t s-stop! Shocking! Me!” Jack screeched, pulling against his chains and scrabbling at his neck even more furiously. “What the fuck did I do to warrant being shocked like this!?”

Rhys realized the collar must have malfunctioned, to the point where it was shocking him non stop. There was no other explanation. 

He turned on his heel to go and tell August or Vallory, but hearing Jack’s laboured breathing made him pause. Jack was in a lot of pain. 

He remembered back to when their first meeting had occurred and Jack spared him just a few days ago. He stayed stood still for a long time as he thought. 

Taking in a deep breath, Rhys made his decision. He was going to take the collar off himself. He ran and got the key for it and then came back (that was the only way to take it off to prevent the giant’s from taking it off themselves).

Was it suicide to attempt this? Probably. All he had to do was tell August the collar was malfunctioning and they would sedate Jack and fix it and then put it back on him while he was still asleep, either that or fit him with a new one entirely. But that would take a long while, getting a hold of the sedatives would take a probably long time. Which meant Jack would be in pain all that time. He… well, he didn’t want that to happen. 

Jack has spared his life. So he wanted to repay the favour in any way he could. This was his opportunity. Even if he was going to risk a lot, risk his life to do it, he would. He mentally prayed in his head to Vaughn that he was sorry for going against his advice to be careful, and so quickly after promising too. 

“Jack, okay. I’ll take it off. It’s malfunctioned, that’s why it’s shocking you like this.” Rhys spoke up to get Jack’s attention. 

Jack’s eyes slid back over to Rhys and he stopped clawing for a moment. He just stared at Rhys. 

Rhys reached out, swallowing nervously and holding his flesh arm directly out in front of himself as he stepped forwards, signalling his intention to Jack. He communicated that he fully intended to touch the beast, provided the giant would allow it. He was so nervous he felt like he was about to melt into a pile of jelly. Already he was dangerously close, too close. 

Jack could reach out and bite his only flesh arm left off, or worse - drag him over by it and finish him off completely. But the giant made no move. Instead he just glared at his trainer with those formidable eyes, multicoloured eyes like glistening rhinestones. He tilted his head slightly, confused about Rhys’ intentions, but otherwise he stayed stock still as he sat there on his knees. He looked as if he was thinking hard. Eventually he lay on his belly and propped himself up with his arms, his nostrils flaring and his chest visibly expanding as he breathed. Occasionally he jumped and writhed a bit from the pain of the shocks, gritting his teeth and groaning, but it was clear he was actually - well, trying to stay still for Rhys. Whether it was to be obedient or so he could see what Rhys was doing because he was curious about his intentions, Rhys wasn’t sure, it was unclear. He guessed it was most likely the latter. 

The trainer’s breathing shaky, he gently continued to shuffle forwards, his legs hardly moving with each step due to his internal terror. However, he pressed on and didn’t stop until he was right in front of Jack’s face. He slowly put his shaking hand over the bridge of Jack’s nose. He stroked up and down with it, lightly up to his forehead and feeling the tiny hairs and skin slide beneath his fingers, careful to avoid Jack’s scar. Jack’s breath rushed over him ever so slightly, tickling him and blowing the hair at the nape of his neck back, and he swallowed and nodded at Jack, his brown eyes wide. He didn’t need to use words, this form of communication, this physical reassurance got his point across better and was less patronizing. 

He wanted to laugh at the realization that this was the first time he had willingly touched a giant in all his years of working with the creatures, unless you counted hitting them with a whip as touching them. He noticed Jack was going a little buzz eyed from trying to look at him while he was so close and he wanted to smile, but he held back the urge in case he offended Jack - that and the fear he still felt kept the urge he felt back too. Regardless, he thought it honestly looked cute. Handsome Jack looked cute to him - oh, what a world, what a life. 

He was also overcome by beauty, yet again. He knew he shouldn’t have those feelings, but he couldn’t help them. Jack’s tanned skin was so beautiful, and he felt blessed that he was able to get so close and get such a good look at those glaring eyes. Every line and crease in Jack’s face looked perfect. He continued to touch Jack and moved his hand up, trailing it up to Jack’s hair. It was so silky and soft, and each strand was incredibly thick. He stroked it and ran his fingers through it as he moved down to Jack’s neck. He was even more nervous now. He was moving to a vulnerable spot on the giant’s body, which could result in a bad reaction from Jack. But he had to do so in order to take the collar off. 

Once he got close enough to the collar jammed the key in and unlocked it. The collar deactivated and fell free from Jack’s neck. 

Rhys tensed and held his breath. Jack could have easily just acted tame just now in order to get the collar off, he could have complied and let Rhys get close to merely be rewarded by the withdrawal of pain. Now the pain was gone and the task was complete, there was no telling what he might do. Most likely, he would attack and act violently.

Jack shook his head and neck and sighed with relief. Then he backed up so he Rhys wasn’t by his neck and was by his face instead. Rhys went to go back up, but for some reason he was frozen in place. Well, at least he wasn’t running away. The last thing he wanted to do was incite Jack’s predatory urges. 

“Thanks kid.” Jack spoke quietly, as if in shock that Rhys had just done what he did. He kept eyeing the human. Other than that he made no movements, and certainly not violent ones, he stayed still and breathed gently, just watching. Then he spoke up again, after much silence.

“So… you’re not gonna give me a hard time for almost killing you, huh kiddo?” Jack asked curiously, a slight lazy smile on his face.

Rhys gave a shaky laugh and shook his head. 

“No, I’m not, God no. Rather I’m… going to try and be as nice as I can since you spared me. You… the great Handsome Jack… actually chose to have mercy. I’m… I’m really grateful for that.” 

Jack just grunted a bit and shrugged. 

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” He snarled a bit,and Rhys gulped at the sight of those lethal teeth. “Don’t think I’m soft, because I’m not. I’m only being nice because you took of that dumb fucking collar.”

Rhys nodded rapidly. 

“Oh, oh yeah! Of course!” But that wasn’t what he was thinking. What he was thinking was something along the lines of "That still doesn’t explain why you didn’t kill me the first time." 

He was about to back up and leave Jack when he felt the giant move in close. He stiffened with panic, but felt no pain be delivered to him. Instead, he felt a nose gently nudge him. He blinked and looked up at Jack. He felt air rush past him as the giant scented him. Well, that wasn’t so bad. Giants had amazing senses to smell and liked to scent things just like a human would like to look at them and inspect them with their eyes. He patiently stood still and just let Jack do his thing. 

Then Jack’s mouth suddenly opened up, and Rhys started to back up and panic. Jack must have been sniffing him to see if he was an ideal meal! And now he was going to eat him! 

He squeaked and gasped as Jack’s mouth got closer to him and put his hands up in a surrender gesture as if that would make Jack more tempted to spare him. 

“Skittish little human.” Jack smirked. Then his tongue snaked out of his mouth and he started to gently lick at Rhys’ face, similar to how a dog would lick at its owner's face. 

Rhys was stunned. Firstly, he was stunned at what Jack’s behaviour meant. Giants often licked each other’s faces to apologize or thank each other, he had seen them do it. So… Jack was thanking him for taking off the collar? And maybe even apologizing for… for attacking him originally? No, surely not. He was probably only thanking him. Still, it was a nice gesture. Albeit it was gross being slobbered on and having his chin and neck and cheeks licked at with rough tongue, causing him to grimace slightly, but still. He didn’t dare complain, and even if he wasn’t scared that Jack would eat him if he did, he wouldn’t have anyway. He wouldn’t want to offend Jack or hurt his feelings and throw the nice gesture in his face. He really appreciated the kindness and appreciated not being bitten in half. Considering everything, Jack was being incredibly nice. 

Eventually the giant grew bored and turned away from Rhys, padding over and lying down away from him with a soft sigh. Rhys slowly backed up and stammered for words. 

“I - uh - I’m going to- I mean I have to-”

“Yeah yeah, I know. You’re gonna get them to fit another collar to me.” Jack snorted. Then he started to growl and bared his teeth. 

“I ought to kill you for it.”

Rhys backed up rapidly until he was out of reach anyway. 

“But I won’t.”

Rhys left the tent with a full mind. Things were just getting crazier and crazier. 

Did Jack actually… like him?

**Author's Note:**

> Alright well! Thank-you for reading so far I really appreciate it! I hope my writing isn't too terrible for you! Luckily I haven't had the chance to butcher any characters too much yet >.>
> 
> Nothing rhackish is happening yet, but don't worry, it will in the coming chapters, stay tuned!
> 
> Also I'm a slut for comments so if you have any criticisms or liked it please comment! <3


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